Year of the Snake: the years, the sign and 蛇 in Chinese
The Snake is the sixth animal of the Chinese zodiac: it follows the Dragon and comes just before the Horse. Years of the Snake: 1941, 1953, 1965, 1977, 1989, 2001, 2013, 2025. The most recent was 2025, the year of the Wood Snake, which lasted from January 29, 2025 to February 16, 2026. The next one starts on February 15, 2037.
A zodiac year starts on Chinese New Year, between late January and mid-February, so the Snake years don't line up with the calendar years exactly. Here are the exact dates, the traditional meaning of the sign, its matches, and the Chinese you need to talk about it.
Years of the Snake
| Year | Starts | Ends | Element | In Chinese |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1929 | February 10, 1929 | January 29, 1930 | Earth Snake | 己巳 · 土蛇 |
| 1941 | January 27, 1941 | February 14, 1942 | Metal Snake | 辛巳 · 金蛇 |
| 1953 | February 14, 1953 | February 2, 1954 | Water Snake | 癸巳 · 水蛇 |
| 1965 | February 2, 1965 | January 20, 1966 | Wood Snake | 乙巳 · 木蛇 |
| 1977 | February 18, 1977 | February 6, 1978 | Fire Snake | 丁巳 · 火蛇 |
| 1989 | February 6, 1989 | January 26, 1990 | Earth Snake | 己巳 · 土蛇 |
| 2001 | January 24, 2001 | February 11, 2002 | Metal Snake | 辛巳 · 金蛇 |
| 2013 | February 10, 2013 | January 30, 2014 | Water Snake | 癸巳 · 水蛇 |
| 2025 | January 29, 2025 | February 16, 2026 | Wood Snake | 乙巳 · 木蛇 |
| 2037 | February 15, 2037 | February 3, 2038 | Fire Snake | 丁巳 · 火蛇 |
Born in January or February? Look at the dates. The Snake year 1977 only started on February 18, 1977, so a February 10, 1977 birthday belongs to the Dragon. The Wood Snake year, on the other hand, stretched well into 2026: babies born from January 1 to February 16, 2026 are Snakes, not Horses.
Snake in Chinese: 蛇
The character is 蛇 shé, and it's also the everyday word: . You can read its history in its shape. The right half, 它, was once a picture of a snake; when it was borrowed for the pronoun "it" (today tā), the "creature" radical 虫 was added on the left to keep the old meaning.
Pronunciation: shé starts with an "sh" made with the tongue curled slightly back. The vowel is not the English e: it's closer to the "uh" in "duh", said with relaxed, unrounded lips. The second tone rises: "shuh?", like a question. A snake is long and thin, so it takes the measure word : 一条蛇 yì tiáo shé.
Among the earthly branches the Snake is 巳 sì, the hours from 9 to 11 in the morning. Watch out: it looks almost like 已 yǐ ("already") and 己 jǐ ("self"); Chinese schoolchildren learn rhymes to keep the three apart. The cycle name of 2025 was 乙巳 yǐsì.
The "little dragon"
Plenty of people don't like snakes, and a sentence you'll find in any textbook is . So when talking about the zodiac, Chinese speakers often use a politer name: 小龙 xiǎolóng, "little dragon". Someone born in a Snake year may well say 我属小龙 wǒ shǔ xiǎolóng, "I'm a little dragon". The Snake sits right after the Dragon in the cycle, and the two look alike: long, scaly and winding.
The most famous snake in Chinese culture is a heroine. In the Legend of the White Snake, 白蛇传 Báishé Zhuàn, a snake spirit takes the form of a woman, falls in love with a young man by West Lake in Hangzhou, and fights a stern monk to stay with him. It's been retold in operas, films and TV series for centuries.
Words and idioms with the snake
- 蛇年shéniánthe Year of the Snake
- 小龙xiǎolóng"little dragon", the polite name for the Snake sign
- 画蛇添足huàshétiānzú"to draw legs on a snake"to overdo it and spoil the result
- 打草惊蛇dǎcǎojīngshé"beat the grass and scare the snake"to tip someone off by acting too soon
- 虎头蛇尾hǔtóushéwěi"a tiger's head, a snake's tail"a great start and a weak finish
- 地头蛇dìtóushéa local bullyliterally "the snake of the place"
- 毒蛇dúshévenomous snake
画蛇添足 has a story behind it. A group of servants were given one jug of wine and agreed that whoever drew a snake on the ground first would drink it. The fastest finished, saw the others still drawing, and decided to add feet. By the time he was done, someone else had finished a proper snake and took the wine: "snakes don't have feet". Use it for an essay with one paragraph too many or a dish with one spice too many.
虎头蛇尾 fits the new year's resolution that starts strong in January and fades by March. And there's a proverb for anyone who has had a bad scare: 一朝被蛇咬，十年怕井绳 yì zhāo bèi shé yǎo, shí nián pà jǐng shéng, "bitten by a snake once, afraid of a well rope for ten years". Once bitten, twice shy.
- 小心，草地上有一条蛇。xiǎoxīn,cǎodìshangyǒuyìtiáoshéCareful, there's a snake in the grass.
- 蛇把鸡蛋吞下去了。shébǎjīdàntūnxiàquleThe snake swallowed the egg.
How to say "I'm a Snake" in Chinese
The verb is : 我属蛇 wǒ shǔ shé, or, more gently, 我属小龙.
- 我属蛇。wǒshǔshéI'm a Snake.
- 你属什么？nǐshǔshénmeWhat's your zodiac sign?
- 你的生肖是什么？nǐdeshēngxiàoshìshénmeWhat is your Chinese zodiac animal?
- 生肖一共有十二个。shēngxiàoyígòngyǒushí’èrgèThere are twelve zodiac animals in all.
People ask 你属什么？ partly out of curiosity and partly to place you by age without asking outright. If you say you're a Snake, they'll work out whether you were born in 1989, 2001 or 2013. Twelve years make 一轮 yì lún, "one round".
Snake personality in Chinese tradition
The Snake is said to be wise, intuitive and calm, someone who thinks before speaking, keeps their plans to themselves and moves at the right moment. The flip side is a reputation for being secretive and a little suspicious. Three words that come up again and again:
- 智慧zhìhuìwisdom
- 聪明cōngmingclever, smart
- 神秘shénmìmysterious
The element of the year adds a shade: Wood Snakes (1965, 2025), Fire Snakes (1977, 2037), Earth Snakes (1929, 1989), Metal Snakes (1941, 2001) and Water Snakes (1953, 2013). In folk astrology wood is the element of spring and slow growth, fire of warmth and speed, water of flexibility; a Fire Snake is pictured as bolder than a cool Water Snake. The same pair, element and animal, comes back once every sixty years.
Snake compatibility
In Chinese tradition the Snake's best partners are the Rooster (鸡) and the Ox (牛), the two signs four and eight years away, which together make a 三合 sānhé, a "harmony of three". The sign that clashes with it, directly opposite on the circle, is the Pig (猪): 巳 against 亥, a 六冲 liùchōng. It's tradition, worth knowing when an aunt brings it up.
The Snake's own year: 本命年
The year of your own sign is your 本命年 běnmìngnián, and contrary to what you might expect, it's thought to bring bad luck. The traditional protection is : red underwear, red socks, a red string on the wrist. For Snakes the last one was 2025; the next is the Fire Snake year 2037, from February 15, 2037 to February 3, 2038.
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